No matter how you feel about Microsoft as a software company, it is hard not to be a fan of their input devices. They have never been a trendsetter, but they have done a great job of keeping a finger on the pulse of consumers and coming along with the right designs at the right time. Products like their Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 and Habu gaming mouse have been received with critical acclaim and widespread popularity.

Microsoft’s newest round of input devices includes some very interesting items, including the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 (which has not been released yet), Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000, and the subject of this review, the Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000. The NWLM 6000 is an ergonomic mouse that is in keeping with the design philosophy of Microsoft’s other Natural products, most notably the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. It is the company’s first ergonomic mouse and is actually something of an oddity in the industry as ergonomic aspirations are generally focused on the keyboard (at least by large companies).

Like with the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, Microsoft tried to improve comfort and reduce strain without reinventing the device. Any departure that is too far from the norm tends to be dismissed by consumers, which is why ergonomic mice have had so much trouble catching on, but the 6000 is more of a tweak to the classic mouse than it is a reinvention. What it does is rotate your hand so that the thumb and index finger are lifted off of the desktop. This means your hand is slightly tilted and stress is relieved on the carpal tunnel and wrist. The overall effect should be improved comfort and decreased chance of a repetitive stress injury.

All this is well and good, but if the mouse feels too weird or does not perform well, it’s going to be useless to consumers. We took a close look in order cut through some of the ergo hype and see what this mouse was all about.

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When first greeted with the mouse it is impossible not to notice its odd shape. Rather than being long with a sloping back like the Habu it is very short front-to-back, quite round, and extends much higher than a typical mouse. This design looks stumpy and almost distorted due to the way that it is skewed so as to keep your palm at an angle. Once you get over the strange shape the NWLM 6000 actually does’t look that bad. It does not have the goofy appearance of typical ergo equipment and uses a nice grey/black/silver color scheme that matches most other PC equipment (including the Natural Keyboard 4000). The mouse has no LEDs shining and the only decoration is a small metallic piece on the rear.

The mouse uses a smooth plastic upper shell that integrates the two primary buttons into it, and has slightly grippy black rubber on its two sides. These areas are not as slip-resistance as the clear gel in the thumb area, but allows the two rightmost fingers of the right hand to get a good grip on the mouse. This is essential because with these two fingers holding onto one side and the thumb holding on to the other the hand is stabilized in a position that seems strange, but is more ergonomically correct than the grip on a standard mouse. While it takes some time to get used to this grip feels much more familiar to use than a fully vertical ergonomic grip.

Looking past the shape we can see that the Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 is not that much different from some of Microsoft’s previous products. The most closely related is the Wireless Laser Mouse 6000, but Microsoft has a number of other mice with a laser sensor and still more with the similar set of features.

The NWLM 6000 has five buttons: the two primary ones, the scroll wheel, and front and back buttons. Front and back buttons are normally placed on the left side of a mouse but in this case they are actually at the top. Because the user’s hand is rotated outwards this top area is very accessible with the thumb. The scroll wheel is Microsoft’s 4-way model (which they absolutely refuse to give up despite it never catching on). The wheel acts well as a button- a rarity for a model with side-to-side action- but only when your hand it very far forward on the mouse. This is the case because the area where the mouse wheel is happens to be tilted downward so the best way to press the mouse wheel is to push more back than down. Pushing straight down will work but not very well as it requires a lot of force and it is easy to misfire (or mis-click, as it were). This is a smooth (non-ratcheting) scroll wheel so it’s not for everyone.

Aside from the interesting shape the Natural 6000 has a few other notable features to show off. Of course, it is wireless so it is free to roam about your desk as you see fit. The receiver is wide and flat and is placed on a cord which connects to the computer’s USB slot. The mouse runs on two AA batteries and is not rechargeable. On the top, at the end of the silver strip where the scroll wheel is place, there is a small LED battery life indicator. This only turns on when the batteries need to be changed but the battery life can also be checked using the mouse’s software.

Using the mouse is a strange experience at first. The shape is somewhat like holding on to a ball due to it being very rounded and higher at the center than the sides. While this is disconcerting for a while, and it never ended up being as fast as my normal work mouse (a Razer Diamondback), I wanted to believe in the promise of proper ergonomic design. Initially the problem with becoming acclimated to the mouse was that Microsoft was no only asking for me to change my grip, but the mouse design is intended for you to bend the wrist a little as well. This led to accuracy problems which were compounded by the mouse’s strange shape and excess weight.

The mouse is best used when you are sitting properly, that is, sitting up straight with the chair at the proper height. This will enable you to get your hand in the right position for using the Natural 6000 but it still takes some getting used to. My biggest problem was getting use to the position my wrist was in when my hand was elevated and rotated. The four buttons work (front, back, two primary) well and are easy to reach when your hand is placed correctly. The scroll wheel is a smooth style, does not have a great click feel (if you are applying too much downwards force), and has side-to-side motion. For many users those will be three strikes against it.

When using the mouse I kept wondering if I could feel the benefits of the improved ergonomics, but a product like this is a long-term fix. This means it is something that is useful for injury prevention or helping an existing condition, but immediate improvements may not be recognizable- this is why there is a tendency to give up on the mouse after using it for a short period of time. After sticking with it for some time a week I grew to appreciate it more but still missed the speed and accuracy of my old mouse. This is a considerable trade off, but it may be one that is worth it over the long term.

The mouse has some software extras that worked after the included drivers are installed. These did not include anything I found to be particularly interesting, but some users might appreciate the point-and-click magnifier, instant viewer (shows all the windows), customizable buttons, and Precision Booster (adjusts accurary through changing the dpi sensitivity).

One thing that can be said about the mouse is that it tracks well. The laser sensor worked perfectly during my testing and did not encounter any problems with the surfaces I tested. The sensor is not particularly sensitive which means a relatively low dpi setting (relative to the gaming mice we have been looking at). This is not a major problem as the 6000 is no gaming mouse, but it is something to take into consideration.

The included receiver is a large, ungainly device compared to a small Bluetooth dongle, but it got the job done. It attached to a long cord so it can be hidden away but for the best possible range and performance it should not be hidden behind anything that is going to block the signal. I noticed significant changes in the mouse’s range when it was placed behind certain objects and overall the range as not very impressive. No matter what though it always worked when I used my mouse on the desk within four feet or so of the receiver.

The mouse is not rechargeable and it powered instead by two AA batteries. This is unexpected for a higher end mouse as most have moved to internal rechargeable batteries that are smaller and lighter than common AAs. The upshot to this you never have to recharge the batteries, you can simply throw them out and put a new pair in. This adds a few dollars to the overall costs of the product and can be a huge hassle if you run out of batteries at the wrong moment, but the batteries last months, not weeks or days, so it can be dealt with.

ConclusionIf your job requires you to spend multiple hours a day on the computer, moving to ergonomic equipment is always a good idea. The Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 is a good way to do this without having to use a completely oddball contraption or one that costs a fortune (though at $80 it is not cheap). Even so the 6000 is something many users will have trouble adjusting to and I don’t think they will ever get back all of the performance of their previous mouse. That said, I would definitely say it is worth a shot, because the hand position is ergonomically sound so despite seeming strange eventually it will be comfortable, if not second nature.

Looking past the shape, the mouse still has a few flaws to it. I don’t really mind the use of AA batteries from a cost or convenience standpoint, but I don’t like that extra weight they add to the mouse. One person that gave mine a test run likened it to a “potato”, which I have to say is not completely inaccurate due to its size, weight, and (am I a guessing) its lumpiness. More of a problem to me was the scroll wheel which has to be clicked by pushing it almost backwards and has side action that cannot be customized so unless you spend a lot of time on spreadsheets, it’s useless. Also the limited range of the wireless connection makes it even more clear that this mouse is for work only, definitely not to be used far away to adjust your music.

All told, the Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 is could be a good addition to the workplace but that is about it. If you take the time to get used to it, and not everyone will be able to, it can be a great tool for reducing the chance of getting a repetitive stress injury, so that is a major plus. The mouse is not for casual users (unless you need it for an existing injury) and definitely not for gamers, but it has its niche and is one of the better ergonomic mice I have used.

Reader Comments

WAL

I’ve used this mouse for several weeks and generally like it very much, except I HATE the bloody smooth scroll wheel. For 75% of the applications I use, the wheel is no problem. For the other 25%, the wheel is damn near impossible to use. These applications tend to use the scroll wheel for “page flipping. The scroll wheel appears not to be linier. That is, I can rotate it through many degrees while nothing happens on screen, then suddenly the app will jump two or more pages forward. This make the wheel worse than useless for these apps. The problem should be solvable in software. The buttons are programmable on a application by application basis. The wheel sensitivity should be also. Better yet, Microsoft should just put the click stops back.

Sal Cangeloso

I can’t deal with sub-par scroll wheels any more. Logitech and Razer both figured it out–everyone else should catch on soon enough…